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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
Oh, Lily Bart! Do I admire you or despise you? With the same vein of indecision you show, neither can I choose. But I do pity you... and not with a demeaning, self-righteous pity; rather an empathetic sorrow for your predicament.
This is Wharton's rebuke of societal expectations and requirements placed on women, dependent on suitable marriages to feed their tastes for beautiful gowns and lovely parties. She sophisticatedly weaves together contrasting characters, symbol and motif and (at times excruciatingly) intricate detail with a turn of the century, post-Victorian Era hollowness. We know (because it's Edith Wharton, after all) that it's not going to end well.
***
My favorite back-handed compliment was when, rather than commend them for attending church, the narrator quips:
“Mr. and Mrs. Wetherall's circle was so large that God was included in their visiting-list.”
This is Wharton's rebuke of societal expectations and requirements placed on women, dependent on suitable marriages to feed their tastes for beautiful gowns and lovely parties. She sophisticatedly weaves together contrasting characters, symbol and motif and (at times excruciatingly) intricate detail with a turn of the century, post-Victorian Era hollowness. We know (because it's Edith Wharton, after all) that it's not going to end well.
***
My favorite back-handed compliment was when, rather than commend them for attending church, the narrator quips:
“Mr. and Mrs. Wetherall's circle was so large that God was included in their visiting-list.”
0/10 Title is false advertising. Seriously if you want to get nice and moderately depressed check out this book.
I love Edith Wharton, but this book is super depressing. Lily Bart is such a good character, she is both the protagonist and the antagonist of this book. Full of ups and downs, but you should be able to tell it doesn't end well.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
🍂positives:
- I love the conversations that can be had about gender, sexism/womanhood in the early 1900’s, capitalism + the economic proposition of marriage for women, & race
- some very pretty lyrical descriptive writing at times
- some beautiful and profound quotes that touched me in regards to womanhood & loneliness
- lily’s story was quite sad & she just couldn’t catch a break
🍂negatives:
- I really did not care for the gossipy rich white people in this New York High society so it was obnoxious how much of this story centred around it at times, it definitely got a bit dry for me
- quite literally every single male potential love interest for Lily
- Lily herself even was quite obnoxious/spoiled/privileged at times
- I love the conversations that can be had about gender, sexism/womanhood in the early 1900’s, capitalism + the economic proposition of marriage for women, & race
- some very pretty lyrical descriptive writing at times
- some beautiful and profound quotes that touched me in regards to womanhood & loneliness
- lily’s story was quite sad & she just couldn’t catch a break
🍂negatives:
- I really did not care for the gossipy rich white people in this New York High society so it was obnoxious how much of this story centred around it at times, it definitely got a bit dry for me
- quite literally every single male potential love interest for Lily
- Lily herself even was quite obnoxious/spoiled/privileged at times
Lily Bart is the protagonist of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth. An internet search on lilies turned up this: "lilies prosper in the presence of other low plants that protect their roots from drying out." The conceit of Lily Bart is that she is stunningly beautiful, has all the social graces, and is a better and more moral friend than those who can afford not to be. As long as the upper crust of New York will support her, and desire to see her marry into their ranks if she can find a suitable partner, she flourishes.
That said, it was an amazing glimpse at the parties, life-styles, habits, taken-for-granted things (such as where to be at what time of the year), houses, and surroundings of the very wealthiest few percent of Americans. It is also the story of several distinct layers of gradation between the upper crust and those who aspire to join it and what those lower down have to be/do, outside of amass wealth, to truly be in with that highly-selective crowd. We get to see several of these layers as Lily's fortunes go from better to bad to worse.
The one potential escape for Lily was the buried (suppressed?) love between her and Lawrence Seldon. He was just not wealthy or "in" enough to truly be on her radar as a potential husband. She was straightforward with him about this. He was a sociologist or perhaps analyst amongst the upper crust and expressed his opinion honestly of Lily's situation as it unfolded and degraded. He too, unfortunately, did not escape being a type and, though professed, his passion for her was not really too interesting or at all likely to change anything.
I would recommend this book to teenagers (may be too "boring" for too young of a reader) if they are already interested in social questions around the most privileged members of our society and want to read a little bit of how that stratum describes or tries to justify itself to itself. It does not sound like I enjoyed it very much, upon rereading this review, which is half true, though I did enjoy it enough to want to read her novel The Age of Innocence, for which I have quite a bit higher expectations. This is because, even though I did not believe any of the characters, the writing itself was often beautiful - described a sunset, a meadow, or a sky, or Lily Bart, or a manner of looking so well, it often captured my imagination so that I had to pause and reread particularly telling or deliciously-phrased observations over again. And, you may have noticed, I did not really address the moral or social questions, the heart of the novel, very much in this review. That is not because it is not worth tangling with as presented in this novel - quite the contrary. The Louis Auchincloss introduction is quite good, though, in this regard.
I read this as part of a Back to the Classics Challenge for 2017 in the category of Classic By a Woman Author.
Spoiler
Her superiority in these regards - beauty and social graces - earn her some jealous rivals and her limited financial means set her on a course that one can see from miles away will lead to her destruction. The social interactions are drawn very nicely. One gets a visceral sense for the way Lily is perceived by about everyone who encounters her. She is surrounded, for the most part, by great wealth. The poverty-stricken cleaning lady and a sympathetic social worker also have her pinned as something special that can help them in their particular situations as well. Given all this, and our narrator's insight into what and how Lily is thinking about her situation and of those around her, I am sad to report that I found her a rather cardboard character. And not just her - pretty much everyone in the novel suffers from being too much of a social type and not enough of a human being.That said, it was an amazing glimpse at the parties, life-styles, habits, taken-for-granted things (such as where to be at what time of the year), houses, and surroundings of the very wealthiest few percent of Americans. It is also the story of several distinct layers of gradation between the upper crust and those who aspire to join it and what those lower down have to be/do, outside of amass wealth, to truly be in with that highly-selective crowd. We get to see several of these layers as Lily's fortunes go from better to bad to worse.
The one potential escape for Lily was the buried (suppressed?) love between her and Lawrence Seldon. He was just not wealthy or "in" enough to truly be on her radar as a potential husband. She was straightforward with him about this. He was a sociologist or perhaps analyst amongst the upper crust and expressed his opinion honestly of Lily's situation as it unfolded and degraded. He too, unfortunately, did not escape being a type and, though professed, his passion for her was not really too interesting or at all likely to change anything.
I would recommend this book to teenagers (may be too "boring" for too young of a reader) if they are already interested in social questions around the most privileged members of our society and want to read a little bit of how that stratum describes or tries to justify itself to itself. It does not sound like I enjoyed it very much, upon rereading this review, which is half true, though I did enjoy it enough to want to read her novel The Age of Innocence, for which I have quite a bit higher expectations. This is because, even though I did not believe any of the characters, the writing itself was often beautiful - described a sunset, a meadow, or a sky, or Lily Bart, or a manner of looking so well, it often captured my imagination so that I had to pause and reread particularly telling or deliciously-phrased observations over again. And, you may have noticed, I did not really address the moral or social questions, the heart of the novel, very much in this review. That is not because it is not worth tangling with as presented in this novel - quite the contrary. The Louis Auchincloss introduction is quite good, though, in this regard.
I read this as part of a Back to the Classics Challenge for 2017 in the category of Classic By a Woman Author.
I read this one for another book club. It seemed very similar to Age of Innocence. I was unable to really connect with the main character so was not as pulled into her plight of worsening circumstances as I was with her other work.
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book made me angry. And then it ripped my heart out.
"What is truth? Where a woman is concerned, it's the story that's easiest to believe."
"The world is not a pretty place; and the only way to keep a footing in it is to fight it on its own terms - and above all, my dear, not alone!"I loved this book so much; I marked up so many quotes.
The House of Mirth, published in 1905, follows the beautiful Lily Bart, a member of New York society's most elite. As a member of the 1%, she was raised to be ornamental, to appreciate luxury, to be a sought-after commodity in a man's world.
Lily isn't the most likable of characters - she's vain, selfish, pretentious, obsessed with being wealthy. She certainly isn't as smart as she thinks she is and she puts herself in precarious situations that could have been avoided with a bit more common sense.
However, regardless of all of that (and my particular disdain for the super rich), I found myself caring and rooting for Lily. Maybe it's because despite her deep desire to stay a part of this society she still couldn't find it in herself to marry any of her boring or vulgar suitors. Or because she was caught in scandals that were only scandals because she was a woman. Or because, when she was at her lowest point and had a chance to avenge those who wronged her, she instead took the high road. Because "she knew herself by heart, and was sick of the old story."
Lily is a tragic, pitiable figure, but I still found her strong in her own way. I can see why Wharton's writing was controversial in her day, because it exposed ugly truths about NY's elite and about women in society; truths that still remain today.
"What can one do when one finds that one only fits into one hole? One must get back to it or be thrown out into the rubbish heap."
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes